A Nightingale was unlikely to sing in Berkely Square (1 Viewer)

[greykangaroo]

Eric Maschwitz wasn’t mistaken when he wrote about the nightingale. In fact he knew very well that Berkeley Square was the last place on earth you would expect to hear a nightingale.
But the possibility of one doing this conjures up thoughts of Romantic and dangerous times. Vera Lynn, the blitz and Britain at war.
Although people hear small birds sometimes singing there, the secretive little Nightingales would be out in the brambles of the countryside.
Berkeley Square aside, it would be nice to hear from anyone who has witnessed the singing of a nightingale anywhere in London in recent times.

 

[delia todd]

I think the nightingale actually referred to a woman.

Though Robins and Blackbirds are known to sing at night in urban areas, due to the lamp posts.

 

[Farnboro John]

Other things in WWII poetry that never happened include a Spitfire pilot reaching out and touching the face of God. That, frankly, is poetry for you, which is why field guides are not written in rhyming couplets or iambic pentameter.

Back to reality.... a planned BBC live broadcast of Nightingale song was cancelled because a heavy bomber raid flew over the coastal site en route for Germany and it was felt the broadcast would give the enemy early warning.

John

 

[Bubbs]

“iambic pentameter” Every day is a school day 🎓😃🎓

 

[Bismarck Honeyeater]

No (so far, though anything seems possible with US vagrants nowadays) Bluebirds over the White Cliffs of Dover, either.

 

[Farnboro John]

No (so far, though anything seems possible with US vagrants nowadays) Bluebirds over the White Cliffs of Dover, either.

I thought the bluebirds were the reason the cliffs were white 😉

John

 

[Phil Andrews]

Other things in WWII poetry that never happened include a Spitfire pilot reaching out and touching the face of God. That, frankly, is poetry for you, which is why field guides are not written in rhyming couplets or iambic pentameter.

Imagine us all reaching for our Ayres field guide instead of Collins!

 

[Farnboro John]

Imagine us all reaching for our Ayres field guide instead of Collins!

Oh I wish I'd looked after me bins!

John

 

[greykangaroo]

I think the nightingale actually referred to a woman.

Though Robins and Blackbirds are known to sing at night in urban areas, due to the lamp posts.

Was her name Florence?

 

[trw]

Eric Maschwitz wasn’t mistaken when he wrote about the nightingale. In fact he knew very well that Berkeley Square was the last place on earth you would expect to hear a nightingale.
But the possibility of one doing this conjures up thoughts of Romantic and dangerous times. Vera Lynn, the blitz and Britain at war.
Although people hear small birds sometimes singing there, the secretive little Nightingales would be out in the brambles of the countryside.
Berkeley Square aside, it would be nice to hear from anyone who has witnessed the singing of a nightingale anywhere in London in recent

Did a Blackbird sing at Adlestrop Station?

Yes. I remember Adlestrop—
The name, because one afternoon
Of heat the express-train drew up there
Unwontedly. It was late June.

The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat.
No one left and no one came
On the bare platform. What I saw
Was Adlestrop—only the name

And willows, willow-herb, and grass,
And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry,
No whit less still and lonely fair
Than the high cloudlets in the sky.

And for that minute a blackbird sang
Close by, and round him, mistier,
Farther and farther, all the birds
Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.

Source: Poems (1917)

 

[greykangaroo]

‘Ode to a Nightingale’: A Poem by John Keats​

Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!
No hungry generations tread thee down;
The voice I hear this passing night was heard
In ancient days by emperor and clown:
Perhaps the self-same song that found a path
Through the sad heart of Ruth, when, sick for home,
She stood in tears amid the alien corn;
The same that oft-times hath
Charm’d magic casements, opening on the foam
Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn.

Keats was inspired to write this poem in 1819 whilst sitting under a plum tree listening to a Nightingale singing.

 

[Farnboro John]

‘Ode to a Nightingale’: A Poem by John Keats​

Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!
No hungry generations tread thee down;
The voice I hear this passing night was heard
In ancient days by emperor and clown:
Perhaps the self-same song that found a path
Through the sad heart of Ruth, when, sick for home,
She stood in tears amid the alien corn;
The same that oft-times hath
Charm’d magic casements, opening on the foam
Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn.

Keats was inspired to write this poem in 1819 whilst sitting under a plum tree listening to a Nightingale singing.

Overheard at a forces educational lecture being introduced by the RSM: "Mr ***** is going to lecture you today on Keats - and I bet not one of you B*****ds knows what a Keat is".

John

 

[greykangaroo]

Overheard at a forces educational lecture being introduced by the RSM: "Mr ***** is going to lecture you today on Keats - and I bet not one of you B*****ds knows what a Keat is".

John

Well, my knowledge about it is that it is to do with tying something to a buoy at sea.
We had an infamous Prime Minister by the name of Paul Keating. Conservatives will tell you that he was always at sea.
But we have been waiting to hear more about the RSM and your perceived meaning.